2
3
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) walked away during an interview with a local NBC channel in Phoenix, Arizona. The footage was released by KPNX, NBC 12 ahead of Arizona’s primaries on Tuesday, March 22 and widely reported by The Hill. Sanders appeared irked at first by a question from Brahm Resnik about Sanders’ stance on the Minuteman, a group who would voluntarily patrol the Southern border. After Sanders commented on it, Resnik asked Sanders about his wife, Jane Sanders’ recent trip to ‘Tent City,’ an outdoor prison in Maricopa County, Arizona. The prison is run by the famous Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump for Trump’s strong stance on illegal immigration.
Jane Sanders went on a tour around the perimeter of the prison with Carlos Garcia, an immigrant rights activist. Arpaio approached her and invited her inside the prison for an up-close tour, which she accepted. Sanders appears to be unhappy however with Arpaio’s invite. As Resnik attempted to ask Sanders about the visit, Sanders interrupted and gave his take. “You know, let me just tell you something, you know, what Joe Arpaio is doing is an outrage. My wife went to look at the so-called ‘Tent City,’ which is something that should not exist. The fact that he crashed her meeting is to me, very, very wrong. Not something that he should have done.” After Sanders was done, he got up, took off his microphone and walked off the set.
“Would you accept the spot as vice president?” Resnik asked. “Thank you very much. Thank you very much,” Sanders said as he got up. As Sanders walked away, Resnik summed it up. “First candidate who’s ever walked away,” Resnik said.